Drag bucket



J. F. YAUN DRAG BUCKET Dec. 5, 1933.

Fil d F b, 11, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet II: L

JW w J. F. YAUN DRAG BUGKE T Dec. 5, 1933.

Filed F b, 11 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicr.

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to drag buckets and more particularly to an improved drag bucket construction which can be made out of relatively light material which is welded together.

v An object of this invention is to provide a drag bucket structure which can be made out of relatively light sheet metal suitably reinforced so that a relatively large bucket can be provided'which in itself is not unduly heavy.

Another object of this invention is to provide a drag bucket construction wherein the component parts thereof are welded together and the forward portion of the bucket suitably reinforced and made heavier than the rear portion so that the forward end which receives the most wear will be properly reinforced and will be able to withstand the hard usage to which a bucket of this kind is subjected.

A further object of this invention is to provide a drag bucket of this kind which is so constructed that it is not necessary to provide digging teeth so that the bottom thereof will dig out the desired material.

A still-further object of this invention is to provide a bucket of this kind which is so formed that the material removed by the bucket will be easily discharged therefrom without the necessity of bumping or pounding the rear portion thereof against an object so as to dislodge material which might's'tick in the interior of the bucket as is now the case.

front elevation of the method of fabricating the bucket from sheets of r metal; a

Figure 5 is a detail side elevation of a modified form of the bucket;

Figure '6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 5; V

Figure '7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view'showing the manner in which'the basketlike rear portion of the modified form of the b et is attached to the forward end thereof.

Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and more particularly to Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, the numeral 10 designates generally the body portion of a'bucket constructed according to the preferred embodimerit of this invention. This body 10 comprises a bottom 11, sidewalls 12 and a rear wall 13.

These parts 11, 12 and 13 are formed outof relatively light sheet metal, the sides having the lower edge portions thereof curved inwardly, as at 14, and the back is curved forwardly as at 15.

The abutting edges of the'sides and bottom are" secured together by welding, as at 16, and in like manner the abutting edges of the bottom and the back are secured together by welding, as at 1'7. The bottom 11 is depressed or bent downwardly at the forward end thereof, the central portion 18 being substantially horizontal while the outer edges 19 are bent upwardly. In this manner, the forward end of the bucket is below the body and constitutes a digging means for digging the material as the bucket is dragged along thebottomof the river. 7

A reinforcing hood, generally designated as H, is disposed about the forward end of thebody 10, this hood being'welded along the marginal edges thereof to the body 10 as at 20, and the forward 1 end of the forward lower end of the hood H is cut away, as at 21, and the bottom of this cut away portion is projected forwardly, as at 22, so as to provide a digging mouth portion which-is disposed forwardly of the forward end 23 of the bottom 11.

This hood Hprojects upwardly above the upper edge of the sides 12, as at 24, and a curved plate 25 has the abutting edges thereof welded, as at 26, to the upper edges of the extensions 24. This extension or curved plate 25 has its forward edge substantially in alinement with the forward end of the bucket;

A plurality of reinforcing members comprising L-shaped angle bars 27 are welded, as at 28, to the cover plate 25 and to the outer surface of the hood H, the opposite ends of the reinforcing members 27 extending downwardly along the sides of the'hood H and below the upper edge of the sides 12. These angle bars '27 are mounted in pairs which abut each other in order to form a substantially T- -shaped reinforcing member, the two parts of which are not only secured to the hood H but are secured together as at 29.

Between the forward pairs of these reinforcuckv ing members 27, there is positioned a pair of L-shaped plate members or brackets 30 each having one leg thereof welded to opposing legs of the reinforcing members 27 while the other leg of each of these members 30 is substantially vertical and extends above the vertical legs of the reinforcing members 27. The vertical legs of the bracket members 30 are provided with suitable holes oraperturesitl .withimwhich asuitable clevis or other lifting meansmay be HIOUI'ltBdEfOI' assisting in the lifting of the bucket after it has been filled.

A substantially U-shaped clevis 32 is secured one on each side of the bucket at the forward end thereof with a portion projecting forwardly of the bucket for receiving an endportionpf cable to drag the bucket along the bottom of a river or the like. This clevis S2may=besecured to the side wall of the bucket by means of rivets 33 or other securing means.

The ;-botto1n;of the bucket is rp vid d with a plurality ;of ;runner s ;3 4==W l1i(;h extendrenrwardly fromithe rear iii the hood rand ar continu 'upwardly:a1one :the back. Theseernnn rs constitute a bottom reinforcing means an ltare s zcurecrto:thebottomendzth backwall :13 by of welding :35 or the like. :forward end o the runners 8.4 areznreferably hutt vvelded to {the rear edge .of *the hood H- The-sides and :back 1.3 ar al o pr vid d with inner and 1011581 ireiniorcin m m rs .36 2411x1237, irespectivelyvtoiprevent buckling-101";bendin of the sides and the back th e 11131181 ends of the :runners '.;;34 :are welded to th a utt ng 32 96 0 :the mute! reinforcing :mernber .37. The iforwa ends of the Outer :reini r in :member .37 ar weldedtoztheirear edgezof thezhoodfi. The-sides 11 2 are iprovi'rl ed with bracke s 1 which are selcurecl :to the outer surface there f 2 1 a po n rearwarc11y of:theilon itudinalcentenof th b k- ;et and a suitable :clevis LQT other lifting means :may ebe .engaged -with these brackets =33 so as to :cooperate .wit'hrthe' brackets .z30iin lifting thesbuoketafter itzhasibeeng filled.

In the dumpin of th rhuck t, "th liftin means attached to the brackets 30 :may 5118 re ileased :thereby permitting thetilting-gf the ;bucket which ;is supported by the liftin :rnea-ns lenrgaged with :the brackets {The 10111161 portion :of each bracket ,Bzis provided .Wl'iih fl:S! ll%16g'hQl, :as at 38, whereas sthe :inner portion provided :with a round hole, :as :at :39, so ;that ,a suitable =pin-cr trunnion -may be mounted int-he ybracttet to which the "desired "lifting "means may be at 'tached. I

in Figure 4, there are disclosed the several sheets 'of metal of which the body of the bucket herein disclosed'is constructed, showingthe manner in which these sheets are initially formed and bent prior to the welding thereof so as to form the ,bOdY of the bucket. ,As disclosed in this Figure 4, the bottom 11 has the forward end thereofadiacen ;th sicles cutiorl (a {fo w .zly ,c onve1 ging angle, 33S at 45}, {and the adjacent v.side edges are bent upwardly ion -a slight angle,

.other so ,as to form-,a substantially web-like pr b k :body dr m which the water :may readi dramas-well as any grelatively fine -material so that any coarse material in the form of stones or rocks will be removed by this bucket.

This body 10 has thebo ttozn thereof constructed of parallel strips 42 which are secured together by horizontal strips 43 which have the abutting ends thereof secured to the confronting edges of the strips 42. These strips 42 are con inued along the bottom and are bent upwardly, as at :so as to form :tlie back-of the bucket. The weirdly extending strips 44 are secured to ,..Qa ch ,other by means of strip members 45 which are welded to the confronting edges of the strips in the same manner as the strips 43 are secured by welding 45 to the strips 42.

'The side walls of the body 10 are constructed-iof-parallebstrips 47 secured together by means of connecting bars or strips 48, the opposite ends of which are secured to the confronting str The 5 14;? by means of welding 49 or the like. forward ends of the side strip members 47 overlap 'rear end portion of the hood I-I being secured thereto by =rneans of welding The upper'edge or rimof the --body 10 is formedpf a single strip "of --metal, as -at -51, the forward of which overlap the hood H and which secured to the hood by means-of welding =5-2or the-like. *Gon-necting bars 53 connect the reinforcing edge members 51 with the side wall members 47.

Brackets? are secured to the "side -members 47 "by -nieans of seeming members 54. These bracket nieinber-s -B are similar in construction to the bracket members B and further description thereof "is believed :unnecessary. The for ward ;o f the bottomstrip members 42 abut 3:10 the rear edge of the hood ,H and are secured thereto by means of welding '55 and a reinforcing plate or strip 56 overlaps the inner surface of the 'hood H and the forward .end of the. bottom bars d2 and is secured to the hood and the :bottom .ba-rs dzby me ans of weldinge'l or the "like. v

Th h d 1' h s .arcu ved p ate .2 se u er y m ans of Weld n th We1d hs...ensee ng th .abu i sre ee .o the plat 15 2 an t e higher ed e of th h od Reinfor ing an l membe .27 areisecuredto theplateZS and th heed .by We din and hai of VL- shap d plates o bracke s .3 are secured .between a pair of these reinforcing angle bars'fil'. A clevis engaging plate 58 is secured to each side of thehoodi-Ybelow the angle bars 2'? and thisplate 158 projects forwardlyof the hood 'I i and is provided with suitable holes 59 for I receiv- 13% ing --a clevis or an end portion of a cable -for" dragging the bucket along the bottom. This hood H has the lower-end thereof rearwardly curved and-this curved portion terminates 1 at the bO'ClJOmilIl-EL forwardly projecting digging member 60 which is adapted-toinitiallyengage the bottom for forcing 'the .material "into .the .body .of the abucket. 7

It will be noted from the drawings that the several ;forms of drag buckets herein disclosedmay be readily constructed of suitable material in the orrn -of-sheet rnetalor bar metal which ne eria e y fo med and we ded Etothe joints so that any desired ,rsizeiof gether at bucket canih cons r ct d :Withou pr vidingundue Weight in the bucket ;itself.

' nth us n thi d vicepthe draseingcable may be attached to the clevis,32 and. after the ihuclse asbeen low re :t th b t m; of a Y riv r :e 63. 1 6 wa er, 2 the bucke can bedraged along 7150 the bottom. Due to the forwardly and downwardly inclined bottom portion provided, the bucket need not have additional digging teeth such as are provided with grab buckets or other dredging means and when the material has been loosened by the forward edge of the hood H, the material will be forced into the body 10 and retained therein until the bucket has been lifted out of the water and dumped by releasing the cable attached to the bracket members 30.

The buckets herein disclosed areconstructed in tapering form with the small end rearwardly so that when the forward end or mouth is lowered, the material will readily be discharged by gravity and eliminate the necessity of striking the rear end of the bucket on an object to loosen the material.

It is, of course, understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:-

l. A drag bucket as set forth comprising a body open at the top and front end, said body comprising side, bottom and end members formed of parallel strips, means disposed between the strips for securing the strips together to form a perforate body, a hood secured to the forward ends of the side and bottom strips, said hood having the forward lower edge portion thereof inwardly and forwardly offset to provide a digging means, a plurality of angle braces secured to the top of the hood in pairs to provide T-shaped braces extending over the top of the hood and terminating below the upper edge of the sides, a bracket secured between a pair of said braces at the top of the hood, and brackets secured one on each side of the side walls of the body at a point rearwardly of the transverse center.

2. A drag bucket as set forth comprising a body open at the top and front end, said body'comprising side, bottom and end members formed of parallel strips, means disposed between the strips for securing the strips together to form a perforate body, a hood secured to the forward end of the side and bottom' strips, and means extending across the top of the hood to permit lifting thereof.

3. A drag bucket comprising a body open at the top and front, an arcuate plate secured at each end to the upper edges of the sides of the bucket adjacent the front thereof, a bracing means extending about the plate and downwardly over the sides, means for securing the bracing means to the sides and the plate, said bracing means comprising a pair of L-shaped angle bars, and means for securing the bars in abutting relation to each other with the leg of one bar abutting against the leg of another bar to form a T- shaped bracing means disposed in inverted relation over said plate and sides.

4. A drag bucket comprising a body open at the top and front, an arcuate plate extending upwardly from the sides adjacent the front of the bucket, the ends of said plate abutting against the upper edges of the sides, means for securing the abutting ends of the plate to the upper edges of the sides, a pair of T-shaped bracing members disposed in inverted relation on said plate, said bracing members extending downwardly over the sides of the bucket, means for securing the bracing members to the plate and the sides to form a substantially integral construction, said bracing members comprising angle bars disposed with the leg of one bar abutting against the leg of another bar, means for securing the abutting legs of the angle bars together to form a substantially integral T-shaped bracing member, and means disposed between said pair of bracing members whereby a flexible member may be attached to the bucket;

5. A drag bucket as set forth comprising a body open at the top and front end, said body comprising a sheet of metal formed of integral sides, bottom and rear end members, a hood engaging the outer surface of the sides and bottom and ex- 100 tending rearwardly of the forward end thereof, means for securing the hood to the sides and bottom, a pair of angle braces secured to the hood in abutting relation to each other and extending over the top and along a portion of the sides there- 105 of below the upper edge of the bodysides.

6. A drag bucket as set forth comprising a'body open at the top and front end, said body including metal sheets having their abutting edges welded together to form an integral body, a hood 1 o surrounding the forward end portion of the body and extending over the open top thereof, means for securing the hood to the sides and bottom, a plurality of angle braces extending over the top of the hood and terminating at a point below the 115 upper edge of the side members, means for securing said angle members together in pairs to form T-shaped braces, and a bracket positioned between confronting braces and disposed at the top of the hood. I

7. A drag bucket as set forth comprising a body open at the top and front end, said body including side, bottom and end members constructed of sheet metal, means for securing the abutting edges of the sides, bottom and end members together to form an integral body, a hood surrounding the forward end of the body and terminating inwardly of the forward end, a plurality of L- shaped bracing members extending about the hood, means for securing pairs of said bracing members together to form T-shaped bracing members, and runners secured to the bottom and extending longitudinally thereof, said runners being extended upwardly along the end'member to proend member.

JESSE F. YAUN.

vide bracing means for the 

